Having written code to interface with the IBM mainframes that power the credit networks... yes, I'm pessimistic about this. I absolutely welcome any improvement in the payment card space (especially around authentication and security in general) but so long as they're going over the existing networks at any point, that's going to be the weak link in the chain.
Simply put, it's a really bad chicken-and-egg problem. But offering a traditional payment card to bridge the gap does nothing to improve retailer adoption of the necessary tech to really move things forward.
Unless google is going to provide (and replace) that hardware, it's unlikely to happen. And if they do, they basically have to declare war on Visa et al due to the PCI requirements around POS hardware - they're not going to certify hardware that can be used to eventually bypass them, and merchants won't risk using uncertified hardware because they'll get shut off by their acquiring bank.
>Unless google is going to provide (and replace) that hardware
Mm, I had thought about the same thing. They could too, they could have some secure NFC smartcard and a contactful NFC card and use PKI and on and on, if you work in this area I'm sure my ideas pale in comparison to what you work with or can imagine.
I think they have to declare war on VISA. VISA doesn't seem to really give a shit to bother improving and it's probably in their best interest to keep everyone hooked on their physical infrastructure. If your phone becomes the focal point of the POS system, then I would imagine payment processor competition would be encouraged. I'm more or less just yammering now though, sorry.
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Having written code to interface with the IBM mainframes that power the credit networks... yes, I'm pessimistic about this. I absolutely welcome any improvement in the payment card space (especially around authentication and security in general) but so long as they're going over the existing networks at any point, that's going to be the weak link in the chain.
Simply put, it's a really bad chicken-and-egg problem. But offering a traditional payment card to bridge the gap does nothing to improve retailer adoption of the necessary tech to really move things forward.
Unless google is going to provide (and replace) that hardware, it's unlikely to happen. And if they do, they basically have to declare war on Visa et al due to the PCI requirements around POS hardware - they're not going to certify hardware that can be used to eventually bypass them, and merchants won't risk using uncertified hardware because they'll get shut off by their acquiring bank.
>Unless google is going to provide (and replace) that hardware
Mm, I had thought about the same thing. They could too, they could have some secure NFC smartcard and a contactful NFC card and use PKI and on and on, if you work in this area I'm sure my ideas pale in comparison to what you work with or can imagine.
I think they have to declare war on VISA. VISA doesn't seem to really give a shit to bother improving and it's probably in their best interest to keep everyone hooked on their physical infrastructure. If your phone becomes the focal point of the POS system, then I would imagine payment processor competition would be encouraged. I'm more or less just yammering now though, sorry.